The Phillies reportedly asked for super shortstop prospect Addison Russell as a start to the deal. Russell, in itself, isn’t a bad place to start, but the mechanics of a trade get incredibly complicated after that. As Wittenmyer notes, a few of the players that the Phillies would be interested in in a theoretical deal, like Starlin Castro and Javier Baez, are already on the Cubs 40-man roster and would have to clear waivers in their own right. Finally, it may make more sense for both sides to conduct their business once the season ends: with a number of high-profile free agent arms available, the Cubs may be best served to attempt to sign one from free agency while the Phillies, if interested in trading Hamels, would be foolish to limit themselves to just one trade partner unless they are blown away.

Hamels, at 30 years old, is in the middle of the best season of his career, posting a near-career high K/9 IP rate and career-lows HR/9 IP rate, ERA, and FIP. Per fWAR, Hamels ranks sixth in the NL while ranking fourth in ERA and sixth in FIP.